Convertible life raft and boat



May 9, 1944. F. PLUNDE R CONVERTIBLE LIFE RAFT AND BOAT Filed Dec. 30,1943 awe/Mm Patented May 9, 1944 UNITED STATES-1 PATENT OFFICE 2,348,570CONVERTIBLE LIFE RAFT AND BOAT Franz Plunder, Annapolis, Md. ApplicationDecember 30, 1943, Serial No. 516,300 g Q 14 Claims. (01. 9-11) I Thisinvention relates to a life-saving device I and, more particularly, to aconvertible life boat and life raft.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a life-saving devicecapable of sustaining victims of shipwreck, torpedoing, foundering,

and the like and capable of being used either as a raft or as a boat inaccordance with the demands of the particular emergency. Moreparticularly, if there are but a few persons aboard, or if the devicewould, as a, boat, be in danger of capsizing in choppy seas, or if it isdesired that thecraft lie relatively low in the water to avoiddetection, it is intended to provide for use as a;:-.

raft. On the other hand, if greater loads are to be sustained, or thedryness and protection of a cockpit is needed, it is proposed by thisinvention to Provide for use of the craft as a" boat.

- Another'object is to provide for the ready conversion of the craftfrom a raft to a boat, and vice versa, either beforelaunching or when inuse, and, especially, to provide for the easy conversion by one withinthe confines of the craft itself. In this connection, the object is toprovide a main flotation body having a vertical well,

a floating platform in the well, and means for sealing the platform tothe body at either end.

of the well so that the device is not only inverti-i ble, but so thatthe wel1 can be converted to a cockpit with either side of the deviceuppermost;-

By sealing the well to the body to prevent water from passing upwardlytherebetween, the additional buoyancy of the cockpit may be utilized.

Still another object is to provide, in the convertible craft, a floatingplatform relatively less buoyant than the main body so that the bodywill float high relative to the platform, thereby facili.

tating sealing of the platform to the body at the lowermost end of thewell.

Other objects, such as providing for ease and economy of manufacture byassembly-line and mass-production techniques, simplicity and sureness inoperation, and greater safety and comfort.

for the occupants will be apparent from the fol- 7 lowing specificationand drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section along the line ll of Fig. 2 showing theplatform in full lines when the device is used as a raft, the height ofthe sealing the platform to the body at the lowermost end of the well;and,

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary cross section showing in detail one of thesealing gaskets.

Referrin now to the drawing, in which like reference numerals denote thesame or similar elements, the device comprises a main flotation. body 2having a frame 4, preferably of wood, with skin 6 of plywood or the likesuitable material secured thereto by appropriate fasteners I. The skin 6is suitably bent or moulded to form closed chambers 8 and Ill onopposite sides of a generally rectangular well [2 having open upper andlower ends and closed side walls M, which side walls may also be ofplywood or other impervious sheet material. It might be noted here thatat the upper and lower ends of the well, the skin overhangs the edges ofthe well to provide framelike lips I6, and on the inner sides of thelips, sealing gaskets are mounted as shown in detail in Fig. 4.

Slidably fitting in well I2 is a generally rectangular platform 20substantiall co-extensive with the well in plan view, the platform alsohaving a frame 22 of suitably stiff material, such as wood, andimpervious, spaced top and bottom walls 24 and 26, respectively, which,with sides 21, form a watertight chamber.

It will be seen that if the device is placed in the water with eitherside up, the main body 2 will float relatively high so that the platform20 will be disposed close to the lowermost lip l6, particularly if oneor more occupants are standing on the platform. In the condition thusfar described, the device functions as a raft having a total buoyancyequal to the simple sum of the buoyancies of body 2 and platform 20. Ifno great load is to be carried, or if it is desired that the craft lielow in the water, or if there is danger of capsizing, the device may beso used as a raft and, if not overloaded, will be self-bailing sincewater breaking over the sides of this well will run out around the sidesof the platform.

For conversion to a boat, one or more occupants may utilize the props 28forcibly hold the top or bottom 24 or 26 against the lowermost sealinggasket l8 depending, of course, on which side is up. Wedges 30 may bedriven in to tighten the seal, and the props and wedges ma be held tothe body or otherwise tethered to keep them from being lost when not inuse. With the platform in place, any water remaining in the cockpit maybe bailed out, whereupon not only the combined buoyancies of the body 2and platform 20 provide flotation, but also the buoyancy of the majorpart of well l2, which now becomes a cockpit, comes into play. Thus, inan example where the buoyancy of body 2 is sufficient to sustain 4,000pounds, the platform 1,500 pounds, the raft will sustain 5,500 pounds.However, as a boat, the buoyancy of the cockpit adds such buoyancy thatthe craft will sustain 15,000 pounds.

Since the body and platform are symmetrical with respect to their topand bottom sides, it matters not which side lands uppermost. Furthermoreconversion to or from a boat may be accomplished from within the well orcockpit, a feature most important to the occupant.

While the specific form and materials of a utilitarian device has beendisclosed, the invention is not limited to the exact disclosure, butembraces all substitutions and equivalents within the definitions of thefollowing claims.

I claim:

1. A convertible life boat and raft, comprising, a main floatation bodyhaving a well therein, a platform in said well, and releasable means forsealing said platform and said body together, whereby to prevent waterfrom entering upwardly between said body and platform.

2. The combination claimed in claim 1, said platform being buoyant, thebuoyancy of said body being greater than the buoyancy of said platform.

3. The combination claimed in claim 1, said well being generallyrectangular in plan view, said main floatation body comprisingfloatation chamber means disposed on opposite sides of said well.

4. A convertible life boat and raft, comprising,

a main floatation body having a well extending vertically therethrough,a platform in said well, and releasable means for sealing said platformand said body together at either end of said well whereby to preventwater from passing therebetween.

5. A convertible life boat and raft, comprising, a main floatation bodyhaving a well extending vertically therethrough, said well havingwaterimpervious side walls, a movable platform in said well, saidplatform being substantially coextensive with said well in plan view andbeing substantially impervious against water passing therethrough, andmeans for releasably sealing said well to said body at the sides of saidwell, whereby to prevent water from passing therebetween.

6. The combination claimed in claim 5, said platform being buoyant, butless buoyant than said body.

7. A convertible life boat and raft, comprising, a main floatation bodyhaving a well extending vertically therethrough, said well havingwaterimpervious side walls, a movable platform in said body, saidplatform being substantially coextensive with said well in plan view andbeing substantially impervious against water passing therethrough, andmeans for releasably sealing said well to said body at either end ofsaid well, whereby to prevent water from passing therebetween.

8. The combination claimed in claim 7, said platform being buoyant butof less buoyancy than said body.

9. The combination claimed in claim 7, the means for sealing saidplatform and body together comprising a frame portion on said bodyoverhanging the edges of said well at each end thereof, said platformhaving edge portions overlapped by said frame portions, cooperatinggasket means on at least some said portions, and means for holding saidplatform selectively at either end of said well with the edge portionsof said platform forcibly engaged against the frame portions.

10. A convertible life boat and raft device, comprising a mainfloatation body, including a pair of closed floatation chambers at eachend thereof and a central well between said chambers, said wellextending vertically through said device having closed side walls andopen upper and lower ends, a floating platform in said well, saidplatform having. a closed floor substantially coextensive with said wellin plan view and being of much less height than said side walls inelevation, lip means carried by said frame at the upper and lower endsof the well overhanging the edges of said well and said platform, andmeans for forcibly holding said platform against the lip means at eitherend of the well.

11. The combination claimed in claim 10, said means including propsengageable between said platform and the lip means against which theplatform is not held.

12. The combination claimed in claim 10, and sealing gaskets on theinner sides of said lip means.

13. The combination claimed in claim 10, said body and platform beingsymmetrical with respect to their top and bottom sides.

14. A convertible life boat and raft, comprising, a main floatation bodyhaving a frame, a plywood shim on said frame forming chambers at each"end thereof, said body having a generally rectangular well extendingvertically therethrough between said chambers having open upper andlower ends and plywood side wells, a generally rectangular platformslidably fitting in said well, said platform having spaced upper andlower floors and a closed chamber therebetween, said shim overhangingthe edges of said well and said platform, at the upper and lower ends ofsaid well forming lips, sealing gaskets on the inner sides of said lips,and means for forcing the platform against said sealing gaskets,respectively.

-' FRANZ PLUNDER.

